]]>https://danasimpson.com/2018/07/09/the-unicorn-of-today/feed/1I won something!https://danasimpson.com/2018/07/08/i-won-something/
https://danasimpson.com/2018/07/08/i-won-something/#respondSun, 08 Jul 2018 22:20:55 +0000https://danasimpson.com/?p=8381It had been a little while since I actually won an award, though I’ve been nominated a few times. This time, kids did the voting! Phoebe was voted “Bravest Hero” (For The Magic Storm) at the Kids’ Comics Awards, at the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival. (Which, by the way, I should attend some time. I lived in Ann Arbor… Read more →]]>It had been a little while since I actually won an award, though I’ve been nominated a few times.

(Which, by the way, I should attend some time. I lived in Ann Arbor for a while and have family in Michigan.)

]]>https://danasimpson.com/2018/07/08/i-won-something/feed/0I’ll be in Spokanehttps://danasimpson.com/2018/07/08/ill-be-in-spokane/
https://danasimpson.com/2018/07/08/ill-be-in-spokane/#respondSun, 08 Jul 2018 22:11:49 +0000https://danasimpson.com/?p=8379At Auntie’s Bookstore, this Friday (the 13th) at 6. Washington, I wish I knew how to quit you. Read more →]]>At Auntie’s Bookstore, this Friday (the 13th) at 6.

Washington, I wish I knew how to quit you.

]]>https://danasimpson.com/2018/07/08/ill-be-in-spokane/feed/0Wednesday in West Seattlehttps://danasimpson.com/2018/06/19/wednesday-in-west-seattle/
https://danasimpson.com/2018/06/19/wednesday-in-west-seattle/#respondTue, 19 Jun 2018 07:18:46 +0000https://danasimpson.com/?p=8376I’ll be returning to C&P Coffee Co. in West Seattle, for Words West Literary’s kids’ night. I’ll be reading some selections from various “Phoebe and Her Unicorn” books. It’ll be me and Suzanne Selfors. Last time it was fun! Starts at 6. Read more →]]>I’ll be returning to C&P Coffee Co. in West Seattle, for Words West Literary’s kids’ night.

I’ll be reading some selections from various “Phoebe and Her Unicorn” books.

]]>https://danasimpson.com/2018/06/19/wednesday-in-west-seattle/feed/0I am interviewed by childrenhttps://danasimpson.com/2017/12/01/i-am-interviewed-by-children/
https://danasimpson.com/2017/12/01/i-am-interviewed-by-children/#respondFri, 01 Dec 2017 23:16:42 +0000https://danasimpson.com/?p=8373One child, anyway. A little girl named Katy, in Massachussetts. She wrote a letter to her local paper, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, asking them to please pick up ‘Phoebe and Her Unicorn.’ Not only did they, but they let her ask me some interview questions. And she really nailed it. Read about it here! Read more →]]>One child, anyway. A little girl named Katy, in Massachussetts. She wrote a letter to her local paper, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, asking them to please pick up ‘Phoebe and Her Unicorn.’

Not only did they, but they let her ask me some interview questions. And she really nailed it.

]]>https://danasimpson.com/2017/12/01/i-am-interviewed-by-children/feed/0The Big Sparkly Box of Unicorn Magichttps://danasimpson.com/2017/10/19/the-big-sparkly-box-of-unicorn-magic/
https://danasimpson.com/2017/10/19/the-big-sparkly-box-of-unicorn-magic/#commentsThu, 19 Oct 2017 19:51:07 +0000https://danasimpson.com/?p=8368This week has been Magic Storm week, but next week, the first four books are coming out as a boxed set! Read more →]]>This week has been Magic Storm week, but next week, the first four books are coming out as a boxed set!

]]>https://danasimpson.com/2017/10/19/the-big-sparkly-box-of-unicorn-magic/feed/2Happy Magic Storm release day!https://danasimpson.com/2017/10/17/happy-magic-storm-release-day/
https://danasimpson.com/2017/10/17/happy-magic-storm-release-day/#commentsTue, 17 Oct 2017 19:59:52 +0000https://danasimpson.com/?p=8366The new book, which is the first one written as a standalone graphic novel, is here! Read more →]]>The new book, which is the first one written as a standalone graphic novel, is here!

]]>https://danasimpson.com/2017/10/17/happy-magic-storm-release-day/feed/2The gay unicorn agendahttps://danasimpson.com/2017/07/25/the-gay-unicorn-agenda/
https://danasimpson.com/2017/07/25/the-gay-unicorn-agenda/#commentsWed, 26 Jul 2017 02:07:48 +0000http://danasimpson.com/?p=8349Did you catch the reveal of Max’s parents in this week’s strips? I’ve actually known all along that Max has lesbian parents. I’ve been waiting for years for it to come up organically. And it actually did in the forthcoming Phoebe and Her Unicorn In: The Magic Storm, which is due out in October. So in the current camping storyline,… Read more →]]>Did you catch the reveal of Max’s parents in this week’s strips?

I’ve actually known all along that Max has lesbian parents. I’ve been waiting for years for it to come up organically. And it actually did in the forthcoming Phoebe and Her Unicorn In: The Magic Storm, which is due out in October. So in the current camping storyline, I introduced them, so that they’ll be established for longtime readers by the time they appear in Magic Storm.

I couldn’t help wondering how people were going to react. Yes, it’s 2017, and we’ve come a long way. On the other hand, we’ve entered a cultural moment when any attempt at representation seems to be met with a lot of allegations of “political correctness” and “having an agenda.”

And I guess I do have an agenda. I think representation matters. Families come in a lot of forms. Art should reflect it. And, characters in the strip are often based on people in my life, and not all of my friends are straight people.

I’m always kind of fascinated by how many people don’t know this, but although my marriage looks conventional on the surface (I’m legally a woman, married to someone who is legally a man), I’m a transgender woman married to a self-identified androgynous person. And I don’t particularly appreciate the notion that in a medium read by children, only “normal” families can be depicted.

Only depicting “normals” is itself an agenda. Refusing to acknowledge people who aren’t the societal default is totally an agenda. Every writer has one, consciously or not. I’m willing to own mine. Obviously I’m not anti-straight people (look at Phoebe’s parents), but we’re all in this together.

Also, what if I told you Phoebe’s maternal grandfather is Mexican-American, and her piano teacher is Muslim? Neither fact has ever come up organically in the strip. If they do, I won’t avoid them, and we’ll see what people say.

If it’s anything like this, I think it’ll go fine. The comments on the first two strips this week have been pretty good. I’m informed there aren’t a lot of terrible flagged comments, either. My audience is apparently pretty chill about this stuff.

Good on you, everybody.

]]>https://danasimpson.com/2017/07/25/the-gay-unicorn-agenda/feed/10School Library Journalhttps://danasimpson.com/2017/06/28/school-library-journal/
https://danasimpson.com/2017/06/28/school-library-journal/#respondWed, 28 Jun 2017 17:55:46 +0000http://danasimpson.com/?p=8345SLJ’s Brigid Alverson interviewed me for a great article about LGBTQ representation in comics. I’m quoted in the article, but I said a lot more, and apparently it was interesting enough that she also published the whole interview. Read more →]]>SLJ’s Brigid Alverson interviewed me for a great article about LGBTQ representation in comics.

]]>https://danasimpson.com/2017/06/28/school-library-journal/feed/0I am a geek and these are my secret loveshttps://danasimpson.com/2017/06/26/i-am-a-geek-and-these-are-my-secret-loves/
https://danasimpson.com/2017/06/26/i-am-a-geek-and-these-are-my-secret-loves/#commentsTue, 27 Jun 2017 00:38:51 +0000http://danasimpson.com/?p=8341I contributed a story to Dark Horse Comics’s The Secret Loves of Geeks. Some other amazing contributors, too. Check it out. Read more →]]>I contributed a story to Dark Horse Comics’s The Secret Loves of Geeks.